Introduction: Why the Blog?

It is my belief that the biodiesel industry will benefit from the open sharing of knowledge. I started this blog in furtherance of that goal. I hope that the information I share on this blog will be useful to the reader and will help accelerate the growth of this crucially important emerging industry. It goes without saying that the United States is in desperate need of domestically produced, clean, renewable fuels. We are a transportation dependent society, and we need appropriate fuels for our transportation needs. I can think of no fuel better positioned to fill this need than biodiesel. That said, biodiesel is not a silver bullet. Rather, biodiesel is a partial solution to an enormous and complex problem that will ultimately require a multiple, or poly, fuel solution. Fuels like ethanol, electricity, and hopefully someday hydrogen made from renewable sources, all contributing.

Why do I believe sharing knowledge is a key to industry growth?

I am a product of the west coast and particularly Northern California. I had the good fortune to work at Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma and at Venture Law Group in Silicon Valley. Wine and high tech are two of California’s most important industries. They achieved this status by becoming centers of excellence. The community of people that made up those industries in the early years did not see each other as competitors, but rather as partners with the same goal of growing their emerging industry. They were not interesting is fighting over a small pie. They chose to work together to grow the pie for themselves and for all those who would come after them, thus creating the centers of excellence in Northern California wine and high tech that we know today.

It is not clear to me that the biodiesel industry shares this ethos. I often run into people in the biodiesel industry who are very defensive, reluctant to share their knowledge, and hostile. This does not serve those individuals well, nor does it serve the industry well. Somehow they feel threatened that if they share what they know that they will be harmed. Exactly the opposite is true, by not sharing, they harm themselves. Unfortunately, they harm the rest us as well.

This blog will attempt to be an antidote to such information hoarders and non-cooperators. With this blog, I will attempt in my own little way to foster an environment of trust and sharing. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Your fellow biodiesel traveler,

Eric